Method of separating wax



Aug-1, 1939;

A. H.' SCHUTTE METHOD op SEPARATING wAx Filed sept. 29, l1938 l2 SheetS-Sheei't l ATTORNE Aug. l, 1939-. A. H. scHUTTE Y 2,168,306

l METHOD OF SEPARATING WAX 'Filed sept.Y 29, 193s 2 'sheets-sheet 2 (/'lalye *Tajik y IZ?. 2.

Separator Separata' f Pfadaczilaz' Waer Hamill/kx lNvENToR .JaguJJYeIz/yJa/zzdte" BY l j ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 1`, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD oF SEPARATING WAX August Henry Schutte, Westfield, N. J.

Application September 29, 1938, Serial No. 232,263

5 Claims. (cl. 19e-17) This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for separating various melting point waxes from mixtures of waxes or waxes and oils, and is a modiiication of the disclosures in my prior application Serial No. 208,911 which was filed May 19, A1938. i

Primarily the present method includes the simple and economical separation or removal of desirable high melting point waxes from slack wax or intermediate Wax fractions. I have found that Ican obtain satisfactory `yields of the desired end products with a greater economy yof operation by employing a more rigorous filtration which removes substantially all of the foots-oil in a single step prior to Washing and at a terroiperature just below the melting point of'the wax charge. Thisv reduces the amount of desirable Waxes carried over in the foots-oil and repeated washingl of the cake at slight temperature lincrements is unnecessary. This substantially complete removal of foots-oil attemperatures below the melting point of the charge is' believed to be unique in the process.

The removal of the oil and low melting point waxes from commercial wax mixtures is accomplished by the formation of an emulsion of the wax mixture with an immiscible fiuid which is commonly a liquid such as Water, which emulsion is cooled to precipitate the Wax after which the emulsion is ltered to remove the foots-oil. I find that I can improve the emulsied condition of the wax and immiscible liquid by the introduction of some gas under pressure prior to the formation of the emulsion.

In addition to the above' accomplishments, I

find that I am also able to provide a highlyflexible installation of apparatus with the minimum of equipment which will accomplish the desired separation of specifiedmelting point waxes with a low unit cost and with the` greatest facility for application to different types of charge stock.

The present method is also unique in that as essentially all of the foots-oil is removed .at a

low temperature where it carries little Wax of i commercial grade melting points in solution, re-

cycling is normally unnecessary although for certain especially high yields, a second separation of filtrate may be carried out. A great saving in installation cost and operating expense is thus enjoyed; intermediate tankage is reduced and the process is essentially continuous in nature.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure `1 is illustrative of a typical vlayout of the apparatus which may be used in carrying out the present method; and Figure 2 is a similar typical layout for Ya modied process. Y

In the drawings are shown two steam jacketed vessels or tanks 5 and 6, for holding water or other suitable non-solvent liquid and charge wax respectively and maintainingthe same at a desired temperature. lValved supply pipes and' 9 lead fromthe water and wax tanks 5 and 6 to a proportioning pump III by which predetermined proportions of water and wax may be supplied to the main supply pipe AI2 through separate` supply lines I3 and I4. Air, or other suitable gas, may also be introduced into this main supply pipe I2 from a suitable sourcel I5.

In apreferred operation, the water and wax, in approximately equal proportions, together with a small volume of air, is intimately mixed in mixer I6 inlwhioh the water-wax-air mixture is emulsied until it resembles in appearance whipped cream or shaving lather. This can be accomplished in various forms of apparatus'such as an emulsifier, homogenizer, pressure mixing valve or agitator, but I find that a rotary pump arranged for recirculation, as through by-pass Il, is entirely satisfactory. `In suchapparatus, the net discharge through spring loaded valve` I8, is requal in volume to the quantity handled byv obtained. With the particular Wax treated as hereinafter described, it is `convenient to lmake this filter media of iilter duck or Woven wire screening, and it is possible to obtain a filtering force in. the range of five hundred to one thousand times gravity. `As the ltering force is gravitational bynature, the entire cake is subjected to the force Without an external crushing action.` This forms a cake which is ne grained, free filtering, porous and permeable to wash liquid which is a substantial advantage of thistype 'of lter.- An even drying and washing of the cake is also an advantage of the centrifugal filter, but any other type of separator which can accomplish these vobjects may be used.

/f The emulsied material, after being whirled dry in this machine a few minutes, will be substantially free of oil due tothe porosity of the cake. This cake is then washed with a nonsolvent liquid from-wash line 28 which washliquid will displace the last traces of free oil. It is applied during continued rotation of the centrifuge basket and at a temperature approximately vequal to the cake temperature. The first discharge from the separator 2| i y of course the oil contained in the cake, and this -is conveniently collected in filtrate tank 23 which may be steam heated to assure easy removal through line 29. The subsequent discharge from the separator 2l is wash liquid which is collected in tank 24 and may be discharged at 30. The cake is easily removed from the separator by any conventional means, such as by 'an internal scraper, not shown. The cake may then be introduced into cake tank 21 and melted for trans l fer to storage.

it is entirely practical to apply a further 4wash, `which is preferably at a higher temperature.

This wash is applied at such a temperature andl for such a time period that the porous cake softens, although the Wax is not materially melted.` The heat applied by the wash penetrates the entire mass very quickly and tends to partially collapse the porous structure. The filtering force, being in the nature of `a gravitational force, squeezes out the remaining oil and this is immediately removed by the wash liquid. The porosity of the collapsed cake is still substantial, however, and the wash liquid passes through it freely. r A short drying period may follow this washing during which the wash liquid is removed.

It may be foundv that in some cases, the wax content of the wash liquid collected at 24 is such that it may be desirable to recycle some or all of it and this can be accomplished by pump 26 y which will recycle the intermediate wax through line 3| into charge tank 6. f

Large capacity and extreme exibility is obtained with but a small amount Oof standard apparatus. justed for various wax-non-solvent ratios and it is possible, by valve control, to shut off the air or the water.Y Whether water-wax-air, water and wax or air and wax dispersions are employed, the

purpose is identical, namely, to obtain the Wax in a finely divided vform as a dispersion in chemically inert non-solvent fluid.

As an illustration o f a typical oper/ation of the process, commercial slack'wax having a melting point of approximately 109 F. is liquefied in vessel 6 and water at approximately 105 F. is maintained in vessel 5 by means of their steam jackets. pump l0 in the ratio of 1:1 and conveyed to mixing device '|6, air having been introduced in small quantities into line l2 prior to the admission of the liquids to the mixing device.` The mass, at approximately F., is intimately emulsified or mixed andv thereafter passes through coil 20 which cools the material to approximately 100 F., after which it is discharged into surge tank 25 and thence into a centrifugal basket lter 2| and whirled to remove the liquid However, when higher' melting point waxes are' desired, a wash is used at a slightly higher temperature; for example, if the fllter'cake is washed with one to one and one-half volumes of water The proportioning pump is readily advtemperature control.

'Ihe two liquids are proportioned by,

ruct wax. ,f

at approximately F., a substantially oil free commercial wax is produced -having a melting point of approximately 133 F.

Ordinarily a 'single separation is suflicient inasmuch 'as the cake formed is extremely porous and when washed and dried by continuous rot-ation is a satisfactory end product. There may be cases, however, where the foots-oil which is removed at the temperature of centrifuging, includes valuable quantities of commercial melting point waxes. In such case, it m-ay be desirable to rerun the foots-oil either to improve its quality, or to remove the intermediate waxes, or to provide a maximum yield of the-desired melting point waxes. i

In Figure 2, I have shown a modification of the process with a slightly different arrangement of apparatus .to accomplish the above purpose, and in this case the charge wax is initially introduced by pump 46' and line 4| into charge tank 42, which may be maintained at the desired temperature by heating coil 43. The wax is then removed by pump 44 and passed through cooler 45 which may be a jacketed pipe, to main supply pipe 46. 'Io this supply pipe is fed water or other immiscible liquid through pump 41, feed line 48` u The wax at the correct temperature, immiscible liquid and gas are then intimately mixed in mixer 52 which is preferably a rotary pump which recirculates through by-pass 53,v and discharges the net volume of emulsion through the relief valve 54.

'As in the prior case, the emulsion is in the form of a lather or of whipped cream consistency and is passed through the cooler 56 for precise The cooled emulsion is then collected temporarily in feed surge tank 51 fromwhich it is discharged through line 58 into centrifuge or other separator 59. y

Here again the separator is of a type to give a `rigorous separation of liquids from solids, the

solids being the wax particles which have nbeen congealed in the emulsion, and the liquids being the-melted wax portion of the emulsion'and the non-solvent. From the separator the filtrate is Adischarged through the line 6I' into the filtrate desiredmeans and introducedinto the cake tankv ,63 for ultimate removal through line 64 as prod- The filtrate consists of the fonts-oil and wash liquid and the latter is conveniently removed at 65, cooled at 66'and used as WashA liquid in line 61. If the filtrate collected at 62 also includes desirable amounts of wax in the foots-oil, this can be further treated in aseparate step. ,As an example, the foots-oil removed at the upper part of filtrate tank 62 is pumped through line 68 with its temperature under control/by heat exchanger 69. Airl or gas is then introduced through line 51a, and if desired, a non-solvent, heated at 10, may be introduced at Y ll.

The emulsion is then rmade bythe mixing device 12 having the by-pass 13 with the net volume passing through the relief valve 14 into cooler 16, feed surge tank 11 and thence through line 18 into the second centrifugal separator 19. This centrifugal is preferably operated under a lower temperature than the former one and the cake removed fromthe tank 8l may be discharged at 82 as an intermediate product wax or recymossos -the linetLif intermediatev-,meltingpoint waxes- .are producednatllLwhiehllmayflbe connected v with the line I1. y I ,l

'Although various wax lmixtures and .variousl desired wax products will materially aiect the particular iiow, it is found that this arrangement' of apparatus is especially effective to obtain the maximum yield, of a high melting point wax, va high yield of asubstantiall'y wax free foots-'oil" l with a minimum lyieldof intermediate wax. -For example; assuming an initial chargefo'f 100 parts of slack wax of 109 F. melting point, such charge is mixed with the desired quantity of immiscible liquid and air with a water-wax ratio of approximately 1:1-and the emulsion formed is cooled to 107 F. and introduced into'the centrifugal. After a suitable charge and drying cycle, each of a few minutes, the cake is then -washed at 135;- 145 F. with a resultant wax cake of 134 F. melting point and a iiltrate of 104.5 F. melting point. The volume en this wax was found to be 13.2 parts of cake to 86.8 parts of filtrate.

'Ihe filtrate collected is then mixed with the immiscible non-solvent liquid, emulsitied and cooled to 90 F. and charged to the second centrifuge. The filtrate then removed at It has a melting point of 90 F. and accounts for. 67.5 parts of the original charge. f

Seven per cent of the originalcharge is removed from the second centrifuge and. has a 'melting point of 123 F. AThe remainder of the discharge was recycled. yj

By recycling this intermediate product wax back to the rst centrifuge, the product wax removed at Il increases in volume from13'.2 parts Darts; and the meltingA point. drops v only to 133 F., which was theparticularly desired product.

In some cases, especially with a charge product i o f very low'initial oil content (in the range of 8- 10% as from solvent dewaxing plants) it will be y found that a very precise temperature control' will be necessary to assure suitable commercial operation. Under such circumstances, I iind that a rerun of some of the foots-oil is desirable as there is less tendency of asllght change in temperature causing a complete solidiilcation of all of the wax. It is comparatively easy to remove the oil and the inhibition of solidification of all of the wax may be quiteimportant. The foots-oil passes directly through the cake during separation so there is no reduction in quantity l of cake treated by this addition of toets-oil as the centrifuge charglngcapacity is unaffected.

While I have shown preferred forms of embodiment of my invention, I am aware that otherv modifications may be made thereto and I therefore desire abroad interpretation of my invention within thescope and spirit of the description herein andof the claims-appended hereinafter.

I claim:

1. The method oi removing a speciiied melting point wax from a mixture of various melting point waxes or waxes and oils, which comprises intimately mixing the wax solution with air, to form a mixture of wax and air with the air ilnely disthereafter removing said 'v product.

mixing the wax persedthroughout the mixture, said wax having a large interfacial area solidifying the desired waxes in the aerated mixture at temperatures below the melting point of the charge, centrifugally separating such mixture to remove substaritialiy all of the liquid .material from the solid material which is retained as a cake, subsequent` ly washing-the resultant cake with a non-solvent liquid.:` removing the Vlast traces of liquid and cake as the desired end 2. The method of removing a speciiied melting point wax from a mixture oi various waxes or waxes and oils, which lcomprises the steps of emulsifying the wax solution with air and water, solidifying the desired waxes in the aerated emulremove substantially all of the liquid material from the solid material which is retainedv as a cake, subsequently washing the resultant cake' solidify them inthe aerated emulsion, rigorously separating said aerated emulsion under a force ln the range of ve hundred to one thousand times gravity and depositing the solid materialv as a cake, ydecanting the removed liquid to separate wash liquid from Wax bearing liquid, washing said solidified wax with the wash liquid and reprocessing the wax bearing liquid by remulsifying, cooling and separating and recycling the cake from the second separation with the charge for the nrst separation.

4. The method of removing specific melting point waxes from mixture with gas and a nonsolvent, non-reactive immiscible liquid to' form an aerated emulsion, cooling the desired waxes to solidify them in the aerated emulsion, rigorously sion at temperatures below the melting Point of the charge. separating such emuisied mixture to a wax mixture which comprises separating said-aerated emulsion under a force,I

in the range of rive hundred to one thousand times gravity and depositing vthe solidied wax as a cake, decanting the removed liquid to separate the non-solvent, non-reactive immiscible liquid from the wax bearing liquid material, washing said solidified wax with the non-solvent immiscible liquid and reprocessing the wax bearing liquid by reemulsifylng, cooling and separatlng and recycling the cake from the second separation with the charge for the rst separation, the cake of said first separation being washed at a temperature and for a time suicientto collapse the cake without melting it whereby said cake will squeeze' out the remaining free oil.

5. The method' of removing a specified melting point wax from a mixture' of various waxes or waxes and oils, which comprises the steps -of emulslfying the wax solution with air and water, solidifying the desired waxes in the aerated emulsion at temperatures slightly below the melting point of the charge, separating such emulsled mixture to remove substantially all of the liquid material from the solid material which is retained as a cake.'

' AUGUST HENRY scrrum. 

